Enugu Catholic Priests Protest Over Murder Of Colleague
The murder of a Catholic Priest in Enugu State, Rev. Fr. Paul Offu, yesterday, sparked off protest in the state, as his colleagues marched around the city to press for improved security.
Offu was the second Catholic Priest murdered in the state this year by yet-to-be-identified gunmen. Another, who escaped death by whiskers, is currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
In a related development, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG Worldwide), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged prayers for five ministers of the church abducted on their way to attend the church’s yearly Ministers’ Conference, which started on Thursday, August 1 at the Redemption Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
While raising concern over the spate of kidnapping in the country, Adeboye said that was the first time an incident of that magnitude was happening, querying: “As a father, how do you think I should feel to hear that five of my children have been kidnapped while on their way to attend the Ministers Conference?”
A senior pastor of the church, Pastor Johnson Adesola, said the church was working towards their release.
Ogun State Police Command’s spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, clarified: “Information at our disposal indicates that some people were traveling in a commercial bus from the Southeast and at a particular spot, some armed criminals came from the bush, forced the driver to stop and later abducted five of the passengers.”
He said the Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, had led a strong Police operation team to the crime scene to rescue the victims, adding: “Through surveillance we have got to know their location, but we don’t want to attack them (kidnappers), so that we won’t put the victims’ lives in danger. Their lives are more important to us.”
“By the grace of God, we will rescue the victims.”
Meanwhile, to contain the rising insecurity in Enugu State, an emergency security meeting summoned by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, yesterday, and attended by heads of security agencies, religious leaders and other stakeholders in the state, while condemning the killing of the priest, resolved to have air surveillance in all forests in the state with immediate effect, as well as rigorous joint security operations from Monday next week.
Offu, the Parish Priest of St. James Greater Parish in Ugbawka, was shot dead by suspected bandits on Thursday evening along The-Agbudu road in Awgu Local Council of the state.
It was learned that the deceased was driving along the road when the gunmen emerged from the bush and shot sporadically into his vehicle. He was reported to have died moments after.
Another account had it that he actually escaped from his assailants into the village square, where they trailed and killed him.
The killing sparked off protests yesterday, as Catholic priests marched around the state to condemn the act.
Dressed in their white regalia and bearing placards with various inscriptions, they deplored the security situation in the state.
The protesters, who had first marched to the Government House, had initially refused to entertain pleasantries from the governor, telling him, “Enugu is no longer safe and you must do something urgently to secure lives and property.”
